Middle East situation/Palestine question – GA general debate – Press release (excerpts)

SPEAKERS STRESS NEED FOR MORE EFFECTIVE MEANS TO ADDRESS GENOCIDE, WARN AGAINST

LOSING SIGHT OF SO-CALLED ‘SOFT THREATS’, AS GENERAL ASSEMBLY DEBATE CONTINUES

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Background

The fifty-ninth General Assembly met this morning to continue its general debate.

Statements

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Archbishop GIOVANNI LAJOLO, Secretary for Relations with States for the Holy See, …

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Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said that the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority had the duty to demonstrate their desire for peace.  If peace was the fruit of justice, it should not be forgotten that there could be no justice without mutual forgiveness, and that clearly required greater moral courage than the use of arms.  …

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MOHAMED VALL OULD BELLAL, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mauritania, …

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Turning to the situation in the Middle East, he said that the ongoing unrest and tensions surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remained the main cause of instability in the wider region.  That was why it was high time that the international community, led by the Assembly, the Security Council and the diplomatic Quartet, made a genuine effort to rescue that war-torn region and bring about stability and peace for the long-suffering Palestinian people.  The only way forward was to follow the path to a two-State solution, based on the Road Map peace plan, relevant Council resolutions and the Arab Initiative.

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CHARLES-HERVE WENEZOUI, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and la Francophonie of the Central African Republic, …

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He said the Middle East continued to be a source of deep concern and, despite the transition of power in Iraq, the spiral of violence continued there.  However, the appointment of a Special Representative in that country signalled that the United Nations had a special role to play.  Support for the efforts of the Quartet was critical, and there was no alternative to the Road Map to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  …

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